Our Daily Bread Devotional for Today 8th September 2023, Friday ODB Devotional Message written by Amy Boucher Pye and Insight by Bill Crowder
Today’s ODB Devotional Topic: The God of Surprises
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Bible in a Year: Proverbs 3–5; 2 Corinthians 1
Key Verse: At once they left their nets and followed him. – Matthew 4:20
Today’s Scripture
Matthew 4:18–22
Insight: The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7) is often viewed as the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. While this was clearly His first major teaching block, His ministry had begun earlier. In Matthew 4, we read how Jesus preached about the imminence of the kingdom of heaven (v. 17), selected His first disciples (vv. 18–22), and performed His first public miracles (vv. 23–25).
Matthew’s recording of Jesus calling the first disciples is different from John’s account, leading some to believe that there were several callings and that John’s account was the first to occur. In the gospel of John, Christ’s first disciples were Andrew and, apparently, John, who’d been followers of John the Baptist (1:35–40). Andrew then brought Simon, Jesus sought out Philip, and Philip brought Nathanael (vv. 41–49). These were the disciples that witnessed the miracle at the wedding in Cana (2:1–12).
Our Daily Bread Devotional for Today 8th September 2023 MESSAGE
The convention center darkened, and thousands of us university students bowed our heads as the speaker led us in a prayer of commitment. As he welcomed those to stand who felt called to serve in overseas missions, I could feel my friend Lynette leave her seat and knew she was promising to live and serve in the Philippines. Yet I felt no urge to stand. Seeing the needs in the United States, I wanted to share God’s love in my native land. But a decade later, I would make my home in Britain, seeking to serve God among the people He gave me as my neighbors. My ideas about how I would live my life changed when I realized that God invited me on an adventure different from what I had anticipated.
Jesus often surprised those He met, including the fishermen He called to follow Him. When Christ gave them a new mission to fish for people, Peter and Andrew left their nets “at once” and followed Him (Matthew 4:20), and James and John “immediately” left their boat (v. 22). They set off on this new adventure with Jesus, trusting Him yet not knowing where they were going.
God, of course, calls many people to serve Him right where they are! Whether staying or going, we can all look to Him expectantly to surprise us with wonderful experiences and opportunities to live for Him in ways we might never have dreamed possible.
REFLECT: How do you react when you hear stories of God at work? How has He surprised you?
PRAY: Loving Jesus, You call people to follow You in unique and amazing ways. Teach me to discern Your voice and respond to Your call.
Our Daily Bread Devotional for 8 September 2023, Friday ODB Message . Our Daily Bread Ministries (ODB) is a Christian organization founded by Dr. Martin De Haan in 1938. It is based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with over 600 employees. It produces several devotional publications, including Our Daily Bread. our daily bread devotional for today audio our daily bread booklet.
READ MORE TOPICS: OPEN HEAVENS, OUR DAILY BREAD, IN TOUCH, SEEDS OF DESTINY, STREAMS OF JOY, JOEL OSTEEN, MOUNTAIN TOP LIFE, DCLM DAILY MANNA, UCB WORD FOR TODAY
